Time and resources are wasted in the marketing of online products and services. Consumers waste time shopping in person or attempting to search for products or services online where they lack control or create suitable preferences for access to the search results. One approach taken in response to these and other shortcomings involves providing for products or services over the Internet, e.g., a system for shopping online over public computer networks such as the Internet. However, users and members of such systems stem usually must be registered, wherein registration and/or subscription by the user can provide information sufficient to identify the user, such as the users and members name, address, Internet e-mail address, and/or an identification number, using an Internet server and a user display terminal in communication therewith. There are, however, numerous shortcomings to such a system. Group buying sites leverage the power of collective bargaining, providing local product or services deals that offer savings for consumers while delivering improved sales numbers to participating merchants.
In standard GM and/or GIS systems, geographically-referenced information is maintained confidential and protected datastores by the creators and/or collectors of such data. Access to information in the datastores is controlled and provided directly by the creator and/or owner. Without knowledge of the source and/or location of particular geographically-referenced information and a password and/or certificate to access the information, the information is inaccessible. Integration of geographically-referenced information to provide an integrated interface and/or view of the information in context with a geographic map is usually performed at a user's computer using sophisticated GM and/or GIS software.
Alternatively, a user can interface with a server device managed by the creator through a client device running specialized software applications to interact with the GM and/or GIS databases of the data creators. At present access to data in a public forum is generally restricted by standard network security measures such as digest authentication and certificates. However, there are problems and shortcomings with online products or services which should also provide socially conscious information about the companies that supply the online products or services so that consumers can see where the companies and/or stores are located and can find out information about the companies, communities they are located in, what interaction and help they provide to communities and/or other economic and/or socially responsible activities, and to associate the geographical and other geospatially available information connecting also by the use of integrated social media, which combination is not current provided and/or available.
Consumers enjoy interacting with friends, acquaintances and strangers across many media channels, but that doesn't mean they trust them as a source of advertising. However, a new host of companies are connecting brands to consumers through their social connections. New web technology has created unexpected ways for advertisers to track your web activity without your knowledge enabling advertising networks to secretly monitor a user's activity across multiple websites and build detailed profiles of their behavior and interests.
Social software applications include communication tools and interactive tools. Communication tools typically handle the capturing, storing and presentation of communications, usually written but increasingly including audio and video as well. Interactive tools handle mediated interactions between a pair or group of users. They focus on establishing and maintaining a connection amount users, facilitating the mechanics of conversation and talk.
Interactive media (e.g., the Internet) has great potential for the targeting of advertisements (“ads”) to receptive audiences. One form of online advertising is ad syndication, which allows advertisers to extend their marketing reach by distributing ads to additional partners. For example, third party online publishers can place an advertiser's text or image ads on web properties with desirable content to drive online customers to the advertiser's website. An example of such a system is AdSense™ offered by Google, Inc.
Ad syndication can also include related social/geo/promo link promotional data sets as one type of ad format. Related social/geo/promo link promotional data sets display a list of selectable topics or categories as links. For example, third party online publishers can place one or more related social/geo/promo link promotional data sets on a requested web page, where the related social/geo/promo link promotional data sets display topics or categories relevant to the content of the requested web page. When a user selects one of the categories of the related social/geo/promo link promotional data set, the user can be presented with ads in the selected category which are related to the content of the requested web page. Related social/geo/promo link promotional data sets can provide ads which are closely targeted to the interests of a user.Related social/geo/promo link promotional data sets can display one or more (e.g., four or five) categories. However, if the categories of a related social/geo/promo link promotional data set are very similar, a user will likely choose the first category, ignoring the remaining categories on the list. This can reduce the distribution potential of the ads in the remaining categories on the list. If multiple related social/geo/promo link promotional data sets are displayed with a web page, a user may have difficulty finding a particular category of interest if the categories are scattered across the multiple related social/geo/promo link promotional data sets without regard to the correlation or diversity of the categories.